On course for success one year after his Vendée Globe start: Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia celebrate Neubau mountain festival

Authentic, adventurous and active in the climate fight: circumnavigator Boris Herrmann remains true to himself one year after his first Vendée Globe start. His thrilling sailing solo, which Herrmann embarked on on 8 November 2020, thrilled millions of viewers over the turn of the year right up to the captivating finale. Herrmann had previously sailed into the global spotlight as "Greta's Captain" in 2019, when he brought climate activist Greta Thunberg across the Atlantic to New York. He then raised his own profile with his Vendée Globe adventure on his fourth and most important circumnavigation. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier personally congratulated him on his "huge achievement". DSV President Mona Küppers attested to Herrmann's campaign's "enormous appeal for the entire sport of sailing".

The media response was and is enormous. Three books, television appearances such as on "Aktuelle Sportstudio", in the DFB Cup draw and on talk shows, award-winning productions by ARD and ZDF and the documentary "Sturmfahrt" by Ufa Documentary are evidence of Herrmann's rapidly increasing popularity.

His latest work will be published on 19 November: "Boris Herrmann Seaexplorer - my Vendée Globe" is an opulent illustrated book and a visually outstanding plea for planet Earth and its oceans. Anyone googling the name Boris Herrmann at the beginning of November received 3.1 million hits; at the same time, extreme mountaineer Reinhold Messner received 2.66 million hits and Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev almost 1.5 million. For a German sailing athlete, such a presence was previously almost unimaginable. "Boris Herrmann is so 'hot' as a personal brand that the potential is probably far from exhausted," attests Brands Alive partner Markus Frömming.

"Boris Herrmann delivers rational and emotional added value"

Hamburg entrepreneur Frömming, whose strategy and brand consultancy advises major international corporations such as Chanel and Philips, got to know and appreciate Herrmann during the race. His impression: "Boris Herrmann delivers rational and emotional added value. The message 'A Race we must win' offers an exciting combination of determination, perfectionism, a dash of obsession and an innovative heart in the areas of sport, climate change, sustainability and education. With this clear positioning, Boris and Team Malizia authentically reach the relevant target groups that are also in tune with the zeitgeist." Compared to the film world, Herrmann offers "a gigantic story": "Not a blockbuster packed with superstars, but a captivating script with a clear idea, surprising moments and a crew that delivers Oscar-worthy performances."

Herrmann's two-person start-up in 2018 has now grown into a company with 16 permanent employees. It is managed by British lawyer and director Holly Cova. She joined in 2018 as a helper for a two-week project and stayed on. Alongside Team Malizia founder Pierre Casiraghi from Monaco, Holly Cova has played a major role in Herrmann's rise to figurehead status and says: "Boris is not a one-trick pony. He is an emotionally approachable protagonist and never tires of sharing his mission."

Half-time for the new building, small celebration at Schütz Composites in Selters

The data collected by the on-board laboratory of the "Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco" for research purposes, such as the CO2 content of the oceans, was published in the "Global Carbon Budget 2021" on 4 November. "They told us that we were one of the biggest data collectors last year," says Herrmann, not without pride. At the same time, the construction of the new yacht is progressing. Herrmann commutes between Hamburg's HafenCity, where he lives and works with his wife Birte Lorenzen-Herrmann and daughter Marie-Louise, and the shipyard in Vannes, where the new boat for The Ocean Race 2022/23 and the Vendée Globe 2024/25 is being built. Last Friday, he and his colleagues from Team Malizia visited Schütz Composites in Selters im Taunus on their way to Brittany for the start of the Transat and for work in Vannes. Team Malizia's partner has just completed the deck mould for the new build. Herrmann and the Schütz crew around company founder and Admiral's Cup winner Udo Schütz and project coordinator Dirk Neumann celebrated this together. The "mountain party" also marked the halfway point in the Imoca new build process. "We have more than six months behind us and another six ahead of us," says Herrmann, whose five-year campaign is financially supported by business partners "so that we don't have to make any compromises".

Boris Herrmann continues to acknowledge his increased popularity with friendly candour. "I'm not someone you'd recognise from 'Gala'. It's not pure stardom, it's more of an exchange when people knock on my office window or approach me on the street. I'm happy about that." On his way to the top, Herrmann has also experienced financial hardship and worries about the future. His measure of success is not stardom, but the answer to a simple question: "Can we continue to be active as a team and pursue our goals?" This has been successful recently. The thought of fifth place in his first Vendée Globe inspires him for the future: "You have the chance to improve."